Mid-Hudson News looks into a report recently released by Pattern for Progress that examines the gap between wages and the cost of rental housing for those living in the nine-county Hudson Valley region. The report found that a single person earning an average wage cannot afford rent and modest living expenses, including those living in Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, and Ulster counties. A renter making an average wage does not make enough, falling short on their financial obligations by $336 to $2,908, depending on the county in which they live. In Columbia County, the gap is $438; in Greene County it is $578. The outlook is equally difficult for families in rental housing, and worse for single parents. Pattern for Progress CEO Adam Bosch said of the findings, “Too many people cannot afford their rent and living expenses without considerable help. The people who are struggling most work in grocery stores, schools, medical facilities, restaurants, and other necessary jobs that make our region viable and attractive. ...” The Out of Reach report uses county-by-county data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which examines hourly wages and fair-market rents to measure the affordability of rental housing. Affordability is calculated using the standard that no individual or family should spend more than 30 percent of its total monthly income on housing. Pattern for Progress examined data for nine counties: Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties. These nine Hudson Valley counties rank in the top 20 of all counties statewide in terms of a monthly renter gap, with Rockland, Putnam, Westchester, and Orange landing in the top 10. Read the full story at Mid-HudsonNews [dot] com.